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WASHINGTON — The U.S. job market proved resilient in December despite fears that a budget
impasse in Washington would send the economy over the “fiscal cliff” and trigger growth-killing tax
hikes and spending cuts.

Employers added 155,000 jobs last month, roughly matching the solid but unspectacular monthly
pace of the past two years.

The gains announced yesterday weren’t enough to reduce unemployment, which remained a still-high
7.8 percent. The November rate was revised up a notch from the 7.7 percent the government
originally had reported.

The stable pace of December hiring suggested that many employers tuned out the fracas in the
nation’s capital. The threat wasn’t averted until a deal won final passage on New Year’s Day.

“What would hiring have been if we had not been facing the fiscal cliff in December?” said
Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “We might have seen quite a bit stronger
job growth” — something closer to 200,000 a month.

Robust hiring in construction and manufacturing drove last month’s job increases. Construction
firms added 30,000 jobs, the most in 15 months. In part, that increase likely reflected hiring
needed to rebuild from superstorm Sandy. And the housing market’s gradual recovery has energized
homebuilding. Manufacturers added 25,000 jobs, the most in nine months.

Economists found other hopeful news in the report. Americans were given more work hours in
December — an average

34.5 hours a week, up from 34.4 in November. And their pay outgrew inflation. Hourly wages rose
7 cents to $23.73 last month, a

2.1 percent increase compared with a year earlier. Over the same period, inflation rose 1.8
percent.

One company that hired last year and would like to add more jobs in 2013 is Arteriocyte, a
Cleveland-based stem-cell therapy and medical-device company. But CEO Don Brown is concerned about
potential cuts in government spending, which he says could erode Arteriocyte’s revenue.

One such cut is a 2 percent reduction in the reimbursements Medicare gives doctors and
hospitals. That reduction was delayed by the budget deal reached this week. If the reimbursement
cut is imposed this year, it will reduce revenue for the hospitals and surgeons that buy
Arteriocyte’s advanced products.

“Our entire customer base is unsure about what their reimbursement landscape is going to be,”
Brown said.